At MW midpoint, GCU loses despite 16-hit game

Sunday, April 12

Phoenix, Ariz.

12 p.m.

Grand Canyon

12-24, 4-7

UNLV

21-15, 4-7

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
UNLV	1	0	2	0	5	4	0	2	0	14	16	1
Grand Canyon	0	0	0	2	3	0	0	1	2	8	16	0

Photo by: Bryce Fairchild

4/12/2026 5:19:00 PM | Baseball, Paul Coro

Box Score

UNLV cashes in on 16 hits more to take series' rubber match

By: Paul Coro

If Grand Canyon's Mountain West season was running the bases, it just pulled up at second base with a view of how to get home.

That is the way the first half of the Lopes' conference season ended Sunday, when GCU matched UNLV for hits with 16 but not for runs to lose the game and the series at GCU Ballpark.

In the 14-8 loss, the Lopes (12-24, 4-8 MW) squandered scoring opportunities and a chance to move into a sixth-place in a conference, which will send its top six regular-season finishers to the Mountain West Championship in Mesa next month.

GCU's pitchers could not follow up junior Chase Frey's Saturday night gem, and the Lopes batters came within one of their season high for hits but went 4 for 18 with runners in scoring positing, went 0 for 7 with runners on third base and fewer than two outs, hit into three double plays and was picked off at second base.
Griffin Cameron

"The bright side is that everyone that we still play is in front of us," GCU interim head coach Nathan Bannister said of sliding to eighth place in the MW. "If we take care of our business, we'll be in a good spot. We just have to clean up some things on both sides of the ball. When there are runners in scoring position against us, we've got to make better pitches. The same thing on the offensive side. When we got runners in scoring position, we didn't capitalize. That was the story of the game."

Two-run homers by freshman third baseman Jose Lopez III and junior first baseman Trevor Schmidt tightened UNLV's lead in the fourth and fifth innings, but each Lopes blast was followed by big Rebels innings.

When Lopez's home run cut the lead to 3-2, UNLV lived up to its conference scoring lead by responding with a five-run top of the fifth. When Schmidt's home run reduced the lead to 8-5, the Rebels bounced back with a four-run bottom of the sixth for a 12-5 lead.

GCU did not score with the bases loaded in the sixth and seventh innings and ended with the seventh and eighth innings by grounding into double plays.

"Those are momentum killers," Bannister said. "It was the same when Jose hits a two-run homer and Schmidt hits a two-run homer. Unfortunately, we gave up a five-spot and a four-spot on the top of that. That where we have to double down and hang a zero there. We've got to minimize.

"We all know we're trying, but the game of baseball is ruthless. We have to respect it. We have to come out and be the aggressor. We can't sit back and wait for the hits to fall or the execution to come. We can't wait until they have runners on second and third to rise to the occasion. We've got to do that with nobody on and nobody out. Control the inning by getting the leadoff batter out and making them earn it."

GCU applied more pressure by putting six leadoff batters on base. Every Lopes starter got at least a hit with two-hit games coming from six players – junior right fielder Billy Scaldeferri, sophomore second baseman Jake Sanko, graduate catcher Mito Perez, junior first baseman Cannon Perry, freshman left fielder Tanner Johns and junior center fielder Cameron Griffin.

"We always talk about throwing jabs," Perez said. "We've done a good job of that. We're just missing the knockout punch right now, but it's going to come for us. We're still believing in each other.

"We're going to put it all together at some point, and when we do, it's going to click our way. Right now, we're doing one or the other better each game. When it does click, it's going to be scary. It's going to be fun to watch us, for sure."

GCU used five pitchers, with only graduate right-hander Jacob Limas not allowing a run in 1 2/3 innings, although two inherited runners scored on him in eighth to make UNLV's lead 14-6. Prior to him, senior right-hander Cam Cunnings had given a good outing that included a perfect seventh before an eighth-inning infield single and walk prompted GCU to go to Limas.

"Cam's going to give you his all," Bannister said. "He's going to compete for you. Whatever's in that right arm, he's going to give it. I was super happy with him. I would love to give the ball to Cam every game."

UNLV (21-15, 5-7 MW) won the rubber match to move into a sixth-place tie with San José State. GCU does not have a midweek game this week and will continue a 10-game homestand with a weekend series against second-place Air Force (15-8, 8-4 MW), which swept Fresno State at home this weekend. The Lopes have more remaining conference series at San Jose State and Nevada and at home against New Mexico.

The six-team Mountain West Championship will run May 20-23 at Sloan Field, the Chicago Cubs' spring training home in Mesa.

"We love each other a lot," Perez said. "We're leaning on each other and believing in each other. We're going to keep our head down and stay humble. If it's God plan, we're going to win games. If it's not, all the glory still goes to Him."